THE 6 THINGS YOU GOT WRONG ABOUT TEENAGERS

THE 6 THINGS YOU GOT WRONG ABOUT TEENAGERS

So just when you thought you understood teenagers… this year’s YOUTH MARKETING STRATEGY CONFERENCE chucked it all up in the air to scatter it back-down over the floor like a cluttered teenage bedroom.

Yes, I was there at the Conference, where I witnessed hordes of Marketing Professionals listen open-mouthed as they discovered that all they thought they knew about teenagers was actually WRONG!

Here’s a taster of where marketeers have been going wrong…

1. TEENAGERS DON’T CONSIDER MUSIC AND SPORTING CELEBS AS ROLE MODELS
They actually want role models who are authentic and like them which is why they spend so much time watching vlogs from all walks of life and on all subjects.

2. TEENAGERS DON’T LIKE LOUD MUSIC
Well when it comes to video content in online-marketing they don’t anyway. They want meaningful and emotional content which tells a story… not a 30 second clip. What?

3. TEENAGERS DON’T BELIEVE WHAT YOU TELL THEM
In fact they don’t trust most things that are mainstream… including their parents! They have information overload but lack real wisdom. Who can they trust?

4. TEENAGERS DON’T FEEL LISTENED TO AND VALUED
OK no surprise there then! They feel that no one listens to the… Well after all life is “soooo unfair”!.

5. YEY WE FEEL BRITISH… NOT!
They don’t necessarily consider themselves British. They are citizens of the world and feel closer to worldly causes than their location of birth.

6. TEENAGERS DON’T SEEK OUT GENDER-SPECIFIC INFO
Surprisingly enough teenagers are gender fluid? They follow as many male beauty vloggers as they do female vloggers.

If I felt a bit disconnected by what I heard today… then what must brands I work with feel? How do they reach out and get noticed by today’s youth? There is an ultimate job to done of selling products and services… but this generation are not consumers as we know them anymore and nor will they be in the future. Brands need to take on board the the values and traits of this generation –

• STOP USING MODELS to represent your brand – don’t have pretty/smiley millennials all over your adverts. This generation cannot relate to them.

• Stand for the same thing they do. GET POLITICAL! Let them see that you take causes seriously and you are willing to represent them and use your immense global strength.

• Show your flaw… this means keep it real with authentic content. THEY CAN SEE THROUGH CRAP!

• Your content must be relevant and if you don’t have the right internal sign-off procedures then don’t even try to be REAL TIME as you will just look like yesterday’s news.

• EMOTION is the silver bullet. They want meaningful content because they really do care.

• It is okay to be POLARISING as long as it works for who you are targeting.

My final takeaway from today is questioning what types of community members this generation will be? Will they vote? Will they hold jobs like you or I?